Administration officials said privately that the situation has reached a crisis stage and needs to be reversed before it gets worse.
And what exactly is a crisis stage? Don’t you wonder where we’d be in foreign relations today if Bush had never stolen the Presidency?

President Bush yesterday launched a high’stakes effort to repair the dramatically deteriorating U.S. relationship with Russia by inviting President Vladimir Putin to visit the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, after weeks of rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War.

The White House has grown increasingly alarmed lately with the harsh tone coming out of Moscow and its hardening positions on issues that include Iran’s nuclear program, Kosovo statehood and missile defense. Administration officials said privately that the situation has reached a crisis stage and needs to be reversed before it gets worse.

Although the president’s aides do not expect to resolve the stickiest issues dividing the two sides during the visit to the Bush family retreat on the rocky Maine coast July 1-2, they hope the relaxed setting will restore U.S.-Russian relations to a more constructive footing. In more than six years as president, Bush has never asked any foreign leader to join him at his parents’ seaside home until now, and aides hope Putin will be impressed with the show of intimacy.

“The Russians still remain a very important partner, despite the tensions that may arise over various issues,” White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters after announcing the meeting yesterday. “We’re going to make all our concerns known, but on the other hand, we’re going to continue working to work ahead.”

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